Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)
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I wish the Chair well on his role in the five years ahead. It is great to see such a large gathering here today. I suppose the committee was smaller heretofore, and this augurs well for it over the next term.

This is my third time being a member of this committee. I was a member of the first committee in 2007. The committee has done some great work over the years but the piece missing is that the unionist parties are not participating. Much of the work we did in the last term is not fulfilled because we have not good enough of a unionist voice. I am probably repeating what others have said, but we really have to work hard. I am not beating my own drum when I say this, but I was appointed Co-Chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in 2007 and my colleagues and I spent 21 months negotiating with parties in Northern Ireland to get their participation. It meant the reconstitution of the that organisation, which was done, to get them on board. The time is right to do that and for the Chairman to get working on that in this committee in this context, because our work is incomplete if we do not have full membership of the committee. We need to work really hard at that. The name of the committee says it all. Our work has to focus on the agreement. The agreement was the one thing everybody around the table, North and South, east and west, agreed. It is with that sentiment we need to move forward by ensuring we have unionists on board, because then our work is real, will be fruitful and will be meaningful. I do not think there was ever a division at this committee. It is an unusual committee and it is important that working relationship continues. I wish the Chairman well.